update

i have been doing really well with food this week. i think the thing that works for me best is writing things down, so i have a little journal that i write everything i eat in. my daily calorie goal is 1600, which is not crazy, and i am eating 5-6 times per day. my goal per meal is:
breakfast 300-350
lunch 350-400
dinner 400-450
snacks 450-500 (spread throughout the day)

i got these numbers from a book called calorie queens which talks about eucalorics and how many calories you should eat each day to maintain your goal body weight. i think the equation is the weight x 12 = calories. they go into a lot more detail in the book , but that is the basic formula.

i am trying to cook more, eat out less, and eat at least one salad each day. salad greens (lettuce, spring mix, spinach) are really the only green vegatables i like, so i try to get one in each day. cooking sometimes seems like too much trouble, but i did buy a bunch of different kinds of food at the grocery the last couple of weeks to mix things up, so maybe it will be easier.

drinking water is not hard for me...i like water, sometimes i just decide i like cokes or tea better, but i've been doing really well with that. i try to keep track of how much i drink, but i forget a lot! all i know is that i have been going to the bathroom non-stop!!

i also wanted to start moving more, and in an effort to do that i ordered this:
and started the work out this morning. it is a set of 2 dvd's with alternating workouts that you do for 6 days then rest for 1 day and start all over. it came with this cool tracking calendar that i have posted up in my living room. i'm going to get up every morning and do the 40 minute workout and see what happens! this morning was alright - i am terribly out of shape and could not keep up the whole time, but i did keep moving, and went at my own pace. there were not many moves that were terribly complicated, but there were several that i just couldn't do...but i will get there!